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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23309434">Listen</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALeo/pseuds/JustALeo'>JustALeo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, just some kisses and cuddling for the homies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:54:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23309434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALeo/pseuds/JustALeo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This isn't beta read so please have mercy upon me</p>
<p>Sylvain loved to joke. Joking was his best defense against his own mind.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Listen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sylvain loved to joke. Joking was his best defense against his own mind.</p>
<p>Now don’t get him wrong, he knew when there was and wasn’t an opportune time to joke around, but sometimes the situation called for a little joke if not to simply get everybody out of such a dark and depressing mood.</p>
<p>But sometimes he just couldn’t. Sometimes he couldn’t find it within himself to make a quick joke about this or that situation, make a long story about this or that person. Sometimes Sylvain just really wanted to sit down and talk to someone who would LISTEN to him, and he means really listen not just try and give him advice he didn’t want.</p>
<p>Which is how he finds himself sitting down with Claude somewhere secluded yet bright in the moonlight, to simply talk. The first time he and Claude ever did this was because he found the young prince looking not as bright and sharp as usual. Really that time it wasn’t even talking, it was them staring at each other for a bit and seeing something in each other's eyes that they deemed meant the other understood them.</p>
<p>“You know, I hate it sometimes,” Sylvain muttered with a far away look in his eye, “I feel like no matter how hard I try to keep them all safe, no matter how hard I try and make sure that they all come out of this war alive and with as little damage mentally and physically as possible, in the end it won’t matter. Nothing I try and do for them will matter in the long run because nothing seems to really go my way.” As usual during the times when it's Sylvains time to talk Claude listens quietly yet not absent mindedly, because he understood how infuriating it was to have someone sit and look you dead in the eyes and not hear a word you’re saying. </p>
<p>Around Claude he feels no need to hide his sorrow in favour of letting others express their pain, and simply relaxes. Claude in return holds him close when he finds it hard to continue sitting up. “Sometimes I wish that I could change who I was entirely,” His eyes grew misty, “Not anything crazy, I just want to be an ordinary guy.No crest, no noble house, none of it. Maybe even a brother who didn’t want me dead for something that was out of my control. Maybe even a personality that isn’t built on the whim of what the person i'm talking to wants, a personality that isn’t as weak as mine.” For a while after, Sylvain didn’t talk, so Claude scooted over and tucked Sylvains head into the crook of his neck and let him silently work out his thoughts. “Sylvain?” a hum in response. “You wanna know what I think?” Sylvain turned his head far enough so that Claude could see he was interested.</p>
<p>“I think you’re a good guy, who does questionable things so that other people will think you’re a questionable guy and leave you alone. I think you have a great personality that you hide so that others can’t get too close and hurt you with your own insecurities. I think,” he says before stroking Sylvains hair, “that you’re afraid of letting people in and that’s ok. I’m afraid of that as well, because you don’t know if the people you let in will let you in in return. You don’t know if they’re there to help you grow or cut you down and that’s terrifying, but you have to remember to let people in sometime. Because if you never let anyone in, how will you ever grow? Not that you need to, what with you being as tall as you are and all.” Sylvain smiled at that, and raised his head to rest his and Claude's foreheads together as he looked at him. Claude was a dear friend, even though the times they spent talking lightheartedly were few, their friendship was warm in the way that Claude held no expectation for Sylvain and vice versa. Sylvain left a soft kiss on Claude's cheek. “Hey Claude?” a hum in response. “Thank you, for this.” Sylvain knew that his hurt wasn’t going to magically go away after these talks but nonetheless he was glad to be able to talk to someone about them. Hopefully one day the two of them could work through these problems together and finally put them behind themselves. For now though, for now it’s fine to just sit quietly holding onto each other</p>
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